Casio WK-500

Casio WK 500

I decided to buy a wk 500 for many reasons. The first and foremost being that there is a 3 month wait for the new Nord Electro.
I needed something that covered strings and synth sounds to back up the Nord, as well as something portable and cheap for practice/ composition.

So how good a job have Casio done with the WK 500?
First and foremost this is an entry level keyboard or back up. At this price you should expect no more. The keys themselves are lightweight plastic. Flimsy feeling but quite playable. They do feel cheap compared to more serious instruments.
The inbuilt speakers are adequate but not indicative of the sounds you hear when plugged into a decent amplifier.
The sounds themselves are quite good for the price. Easily layered and/or split with minimal fuss. The 32 performance presets are great, but require 6 D cell batteries to be fitted in order to retain your settings. On that note you MUST buy a power supply if you intend to play for serious amounts of time.
Built in lessons and auto acompaniment are ok but show this keyboards true market target. Beginners and occasional players.

All in all I am quite pleased with this unit. It\'s an honest instrument for the price and is built well. Capable of holding it\'s own in band situations but limited in sound flexibility.

I would have given this keyboard 5 stars if it had a stronger effects pallet, but thats probably just wishfull thinking on my part.